Bumper end construction



Jan. 22, 1935. y H, R, McMAHoN BUMPER END CONSTRUCTION Fired oct. s1, `1930 ,4 f VILL/All Mm MMR INVENToR. me/mib@ 'Sym Wmbm ,ff/A ATTORNEYS.

Patented Jan. 22, 1935 luster BUMPER. END` NsrRUc'rIoNvr Harry R. McMahon, Goraopolis; Pa., assigner to Standard'Steel- Spring Company', a corporation of Pennsylvania,Y

Applicatipnoc'tortr' 31, reso, serially. 492,511.

= momma. (01.293.155)` v This invention relates tobumpers for vehicles andspartieularly to the connections between the. ends ofv the bumper bars.

Prior known bumper constructions have many inherent and latent` defects which are known to. those: skilled in'thisgeld and .which need not 'be recapitulatedhere The continual search and experimentation :for a successful s and economie cal pburnperf is plainieyidence of thev unsatisfacf tory conditions existing `with known bumpers. f

OneV of the objects or my invention is to; pro` Vide a sturdyy and simple bumper. construction havinga minimum number of parts and subjeuted ,to av minimum; ofrwear, .While at the same. time presenting; a. substantially .enclosed construction ,havingyno appreciable; tendency to collect:4 liquid or solid particles' todeteriorate on decrease the :efficiency of the bumper.

Another object is so tor connectftheuends ofv the bumper ,bars that. an unusually effective. and: efficient bumper is obtained,l as' vvelll asv one; which' is of highly desirable. appearance and simply and; Aeconomically 'constructed and assembled..

Other Vand further. robjects,v will either be-iap'- parent. to `those skilled in the art or willi be.

understoodl hereinafter. y 'In the accompanying drawing: l Figure-1 shows in plan View fragmentary partsof ay bumperconstruction connected at'the `end inaccordance with one embodiment-of my in Venti'on. v.

Fig.. 2 is a cross-section on the line II-II of Fig.l. Fig. 3`is a perspective of the parts. shownin Figs.. 1` and 2,1but with -certain elements omitted'. Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 2fof amori-inedV form of the invention; and`v f Eig. 5 is a View similar` to Fig?. 3 but atadifierent-angl'e to show. certain phases.v of they i1nverition more clearly. J1 7 I .Thenumeralz1.0:..represents th'ef'ront or im` pact bar of the .bumper 'Whiclris 'of' any suitable material and which isi relatively "wide-asxshow-n which may have anysuitable'or desirable cross-.sectional areav dependentupLinthe strength and .rigidityor the. like. required under any given circumstances. Numeral 11 indicates the rear bar ofi .thebum-per and the bar is: suitably attached .by means,..not shown, to the frame or to anyiappropriate .part of theY vehicle: to which thebumper is to. be attached'.` This reary barI 11.v is'zrelatively'narromlasi shown, being about substantially' one-third the width of `the front. or impact bar'l, sadrear bar being made of any4 suitable material: having 1 the.l Areduisit-e propere ties and:- characteristics andhaving a cross-sec,- tional, area:` of such sizei as the engineer `may. design for the requirements toV beymet. IIn a general sense, I forni l.the rearbar 11o-i a greater' `thickness thanth'atof Vthe: wider; impact bar 1Q; so that; the section modulusl ,thatvisA the product of the Width and thethicknesseoiy they bars',` isv substantially equal:`

` As is well shown inEig-p, vthe `impact*bari 10, has its end bent. to; form aY cylindricalytportion 12V, extending the full' width ofgthebar, but having.; a cuteaway portion extending*about` two-tlfiirds.ther Width ofi` thegbar` at'ithe; 'inner lowermost edge thereof .thereby-` forming a` slot or opening in which rearybar lljis guidedand limited in its movements and by means of which rear bar 1 1l: may be; assembled inoperative association with, bar 10i asswill .be vmore fully Veacplained, hereinafter.; This;` cylindrical portion may be formed in any suitable way not'forming apart jof Vthepresent invention. z'.

Rear barill'gas likewise mostclearly shownY inlilig.` 3'-,V also has litsendportifin -bent 'tofiorm aicylindrical, portion .13h this cylindrical portionI havingsanexternalmaximum diameter substan-v tially equaito. or slightly less than'the .minimum internal diameter .offA tl'ie,` vcylindrical portion '12 ofbar 1.0., r Af Assumingl'then thatbars 10i-and 11 withth'eir` respective cylindrical porti0ns`12 and 14 `formed as: showny are. disassembled, they maybe assembledby'inserting the: cylindrical portionilffioi` bar 11i` upwardly into cylindrical portion-12 fof= bar 10 from the. bottom'thereof: and axially witlof respect'thereto.' The adjacent portion of barfll slides Yupwardly rin cut-out'y portion 1'3 unti-lth upper edge of bar 11 Vabuts.the/shoulder 15A formed Vby the cut-out portion 13, saidf shoulder resulting from the fact that the upper'one-third portion off'the inner end, ofthe cylindricalportion 112 is`. not cutaway;A thisupper one-third portion `forming at the same time a unitary spacer member which maintains y bar- `l 1. substantially centrally ofr bar 10 'without thefuse of any removable or detachable spacer member asl con' ventionally used` in1 prior known. constructions;

-After the. rear bar 11 has been assembled in `head 18' of the bolt 18 is large thereby forming an eifective cover for the top of cylindrical pori1 tion 12, and in practice a suitable metal washer member 20 is used for stability. A'If-"desired, a

suitable metal washer 21 and lock washer 22A may*- be placed as shown in '.Eig.` ZKfor the-usual p'llI'pOSeS.

There is thus formed a connection for the.

ends of bumper bars wherein the bars are pivot- Aally connected in strong, efiicient mannerj and.

wherein no special bends are required in the bumper bars themselves, `which constitutes a great vadvance -in itself andr furthermore no special toolsV are required in assembling the elements as aboveindicated. 1

In some cases'I find that I can readily dispense with even the lower spacer member 16 and this isclearly illustrated inthe modiiied form of the invention illustrated in Fig. 4. This form of invention is -th'e same as that of Fig. 2 with` the exception-that the lower 'spacer member 16 has been omitted and bolt 18 has been shortened so that it extends'just suiciently below the bar 11 .to enable theV proper assembly on the lower threaded end Tof the bolt of washer 21, lock Washer 22, and nut 19.

I have shown only one end construction,` but it is clearly understood that the other end is identical in all respects with Athe end shown andl no good purpose `would be served by showing bothends.

This bumper is intended primarily for the front of automotive Avehicles and is especially designed fora bumperhaving a single impact bar.' It must be. realized, however,` that this bumper could be used in other locations, such as atthe rear, or on the Vcorners of vehicles.`

I have illustrated and described my invention as applied especially to a bumper of the single impact Ibar type andespecially to a bumper having a relatively wide `impact'bar and a relatively narrow rear bar, vas clearly indicated'in'the drawing, but it is to be understood that-'such details vare intended to beV illustrative only and not vlimitative as` without departing from`- thel spirit and scope of the nventionyI contemplate variations in the same which will' be'clear from the above disclosure.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A protective bumper forl'automotive vehiclesv to protect such vehicles fromdamage against substantially horizontal impacts and'tor substantially absorb such impacts comprising a front bar, a rearl 'bar Aand*linstrum'entalitie's for holding said bars in operativelyassociated positions, said front bar beingthe wider of thetwo bars and havingr at each end a portion bent around throughout the wholewidth of the bar u ntil it contacts with vthe rear surface vof the front barv near its end to,V form a rcylindrical open-ended housing, such housing having a vertical `cut-awayy portion extending for a substantial portion of the height'of the cylindrical housing at its lower inner, edge'and forming lan integral spacer, said rear bar-being narrower and thicker than said front bar, the section modulus of both bars being substantially equal, and havingveach end bent around into contact with itself to form an open-ended cylindrical housing, the housing on said front bar being of a size to snugly receive therewithin the housing of the rear bar and the rear bar proper adjacent its housing extending through the vertical cutaway portion of the housing/of the .front bar, the upper edge of such rear bar substantially abutting the lower edge of said integral spacer, and said instrumentalities including a bolt with an enlargedV head and the shank of which eX- tends through both said housings together with washers andunuts for maintaining the parts as aforesaid.

.2. A protective lbumper for automotive vehicles to protect vsuch vehicles from damage vlagainst substantially horizontal impacts and to substantially absorbsuch impacts' comprising a front bar, a rear bar and instrumentalities for holding said bars in operatively associated positions, said front bar being the wider of the two bars and having at 'each end a portion bent around throughout the whole width of the bar until it contacts' with the rear surface of the frontbar near its end to form a cylindrical open-ended housing, such housing having a vertical cut-away portion extending for a substantial portion of the height of theV cylindrical housing at its lower inner edge and forming an integral spacer, said rear bar beingr narrower than said front bar and having each end bent around into contact withl itself to form an openended cylindrical housing, the housing on said front bar beingof a size to snugly receive in the interior thereof the housing ofthe rear bar vand the rear bar proper adjacent its housing extending through the vertical cut-away 'portion of the housing'fofthe front bar, the upper .edge of such rear bar abutting' the lower edge of said integral spacer, and said instrumentalities including a bolt'wth an enlarged head and the shank of whichxextends through both said housings together with Washers and nuts for maintaining `the parts as aforesaid, and a separate yieldable cut-away cylindrical spacer on said bolt shank compensating for the distance from rthe lower edge of the second housing tothe lower edge of the i'lrsthousing and terminating flush therewith, and a centering washer interposed between saidenlarged bolt head and the upper edge of the cylindrical front bar housing.

3.A protective lbumper for automotive vehicles to protect such vehicles from damage against substantially'horizontal impacts and to substantially absorb such impacts comprising a front bar, a rear bar and instrumentalities for holding said bars in operatively associated positions, said front bar being thewider ofthe two bars and having at each endv a portion bent around throughout the whole width of the bar until'it contacts with the rear surface of the. front bar near its end to form a cylindrical open-ended housing, such housing having a Vertical cut-away portion extending for a substantial-portion of the height of the cylindrical housing at its lower inner edge and forming an integral spacer, said rear bar being narrower and 4thicker than said front bar, the section modulus of both bars being substantially equal, and having each end bent around into contact with itself to form an open-ended cylindrical housing, the housing on said front bar being of a size to'snugly receive in the interior thereof lower 'end'of the shorter housing and the lower the housing of the rear bar andthe rear bar proper adjacent its housing extending through the vertical cut-away portion of the housing of the front bar, the upper edge of such rear barY abutting the lower edge of said integral spacer, and said instrumentalities including a bolt with an enlarged head and the shank of which extends through both said housings together with rwashers and nuts for maintaining the parts as aforesaid, the ends of both bars being bent around in the same direction.

4. A protective bumper for automotive vehicles to protect such vehicles from damage against substantially horizontal impacts and to substantially absorb such impacts comprising a front bar, a rear bar and instrumentalities for holding said bars in operatively associated positions, said front bar being the wider of the two bars and having at each end a portion bent around throughout the whole Width of the bar until it contacts with the rear surface of the front bar near its end to form a cylindrical open-ended housing, such housing having a vertical cut-away portion extending for a substantial portion of the height of the cylindrical housing at its lower inner edge and forming an integral spacer, said rear bar being narrower than said front bar and having each end bent around into contact withitself to form an openended cylindrical housing, the housing on said front bar being of a size to snugly receive in the interior thereof the housing of the rear bar and the rear bar proper adjacent its housing extending through the vertical cut-away portion of the housing of the front bar, the upper edge of such rear bar substantially abutting the lower edge of said integral spacer, and said instrumentalities' including a bolt with an enlarged head and the shank of which extends through both said housings together Withwashers and nuts for maintaining the parts as aforesaid and a separate yieldable cut-away cylindrical spacer on lsaid bolt shank compensating for the distance from the lower edge of the second housing to the lower edge of the first housing, and terminating iiush therewith, and a centering washer interposed between said enlarged bolt head and the upper edge of the cylindrical front bar housing, the ends of both bars being 1bent karound in the same direction.

5. In a bumper end construction wherein there are two cylindrical housings, one. Within but shorter than the other, and a boltl passing through both housings, a separate yieldable washer insertable on the lower end of such bolt and compensating for the distance between the end of the longer housing, such washer comhicles comprising a relatively wide and thin front bar, a relatively narrow and thick rear bar and means for pivotally maintainingthe ends of such bars in operative association with the rear bar centrally disposed with respect to the front bar, a vertically slotted open-ended cylinder at each end of said front bar, an openended cylinder at each end of said rear bar and receivable within the cylinder on the front bar, the rear bar portions adjacent the rear bar cylinders extending outwardly through the vertical slots on the front bar cylinders, and said means including, in addition to a nut and bolt assembly, a yieldable washerl on the lower end of the bolt which compensates for the distance between the lower end of the cylinder on the rear bar and the lower end of the cylinder on the front bar and terminates flush with such latter to provide a centered non-binding assembly free to respond to the maximum amount to impacts received by saidl front bar.

` 7. A protective bumper for automotive vehicles comprising a relatively wide and thin front bar, a relatively narrow and thick rear bar and kmeans for pivotally maintaining the ends of such bars in operative association with the rear bar centrally disposed with respect to the front bar, a vertically slotted open-ended cylinder at each end of said front bar, an openended cylinder at each end of said rear bar and receivable within the cylinder on thefront bar,

the rear bar portions adjacent the rear bar cyl.

inders extending outwardly through the vertical slots in the front bar cylinders, and said means including, in addition to a nut and bolt assem- 

